Carman

He deserves some blame, but it shouldn't be just limited to him. The players have to finish as well, he can't go out there and score.

How is .917 SV% and 2.42 GAA not in the same ball park as .919 SV% and 2.51 GAA? And sorry .917 SV% and 2.42 GAA is better than Fleury's .909 SV% and 2.67 GAA. And if you don't want to compare careers, because why would large sample sizes matter let's compare their best years. Jimmy Howard's 09-10 season he had .924 SV% and 2.26 GAA, Fleury's best season 07-08 he had a .921 SV% and 2.33 GAA So Jimmy has proven to have a higher ceiling than Fleury, considering he's had a better season. Man Jimmy Howard is so underrated here, it's completely mind boggling, we finally have a good to very good goalie, and it's like we don't want one and have to fight every step to make sure he doesn't get any credit.

Just a bad game, they've been playing better lately. The only thing I am worried about is the power play, they really need to start producing here or we are in trouble. Hope for a much better effort tomorrow, and just forget about this one.

Kronwall=(

Yea I guess it's different isn't it? I guess I was just talking in a general sense on the ice, not just about this specific incident of players hitting refs. It's a lot more uncommon for a referee to get hit like that though, can't say I recall something like that.

I don't think the game has changed that much to be honest, I'm pretty young though(1989) so I can't say I lived through the 80's, but when I go back and look I see the same stuff. For example how many games would Messier get now for this hit? Or good ole' Dino There are a ton more, hockey is a very emotional and physical game. And terrible incidents will happen, and I really don't think they are more common, they are probably just more exposed.

Agreed, Ideally i'd like to go back to the leather/soft pads and we wouldn't have as lethal of hits, but much more bruising. But for the here and now visors protect against very scary injuries, that would otherwise not be avoidable, it's not like you can position yourself better when you battle Hossa for a puck and get clipped in the eye(Berard), or take a redirect(Staal, Lidstrom etc.). The risk for wearing a visor far outweighs any "inconvenience" a player has, especially now that every player coming into the NHL is used to wearing them. Fact is these players are worth a ton of money, it's not just about how they feel, it's about the risk the owner takes on giving money to a player that refuses to take a common safety precaution.

Nice speed by Smith to get to the net. His played really well too.

Emmerton having a great game, finally got on the board too!

Just put pucks on net, nice job Kindl!

I'd prefer 4-5 million. Would go up to 6 if he does something special to round out the rest of this season(great playoff run ideally) Also depends on length, with Mrazek in the minors I wouldn't be opposed to a higher salary 5-6 million, shorter length (3-4 years), rather then a life time contract(8+ years) for 4-5 million. His numbers put him up there with the money Price, Miller, Quick and Backstrom. He's going to get paid well by someone else if we don't re-sign him. I'm not a believer in spending big money on a goalie though, unless that goalie is a Roy/Brodeur/Hasek, which there is currently only 1 of in the NHL.

And Bertuzzi says It really is a no brainer now, and should be grand fathered in the next few years. Ericsson's thoughts on it make no sense, facial lacerations which are pretty uncommon, or safety from having your career derailed because you can't see. There are tons of examples of players missing an enormous amount of time because of a puck/stick close to the eye, Pronger, Berard etc. and others like Lidstrom that came way too close to happening. And there are only a few examples of visors hurting people, and the examples of visors causing a career ending injury? Well let's just say it's not close to not using one.

100% agreed. The risk of an eye injury far outweighs anything negative regarding wearing visors. They should be grandfathered in soon enough, all these kids coming into the league are used to wearing them now.

My point was that all goalies go through rough strecthes, even hall of famers. That's it.

Keith Ballard?

There is that average goalie of ours, being all average and such.

Kronwall! Nice play by Abby/Dats and screen by Cleary

Nope, we need a defensively responsible first pairing guy. Brian Campbell has his place, but him and Kronwall are too alike in terms of what they should be contributing.

Here we go Mule is having fun!

All about sample size. Howard's sample size of the past few seasons say that he is above average. If his stats stay down for the rest of this year, and some of next then you can start making conclusions. You don't judge a goalie on 19 games, if you did then I can come up with 19 game segments of hall of fame goaltenders that would prove they are "average". Fact is goalies rely on players in front of them to limit the other team's high percentage chances, something the Wings were considerably bad at during the beginning of the season. And believe it or not, all goalies tend to struggle when the team in front of them turns the puck over and can't score more than a goal a game.

i expect more from him, because he can. I understand the frustration lots of the fans have with him, and NHL athlete shouldn't be "streaky", Franzen has the hands, size and skating ability to be a dominate player, yet he is only dominate in spurts. But don't take it from me, take it from his coach http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/11/red_wings_mike_babcock_wants_j.html To me having your coach call you out on not coming to the rink with the right mentality every single night. Something he did earlier in his career when he was fighting for a roster slot and a stanley Cup. Which is when Yzerman gave him that nick name.

By the way just for reference, Patrick Roy's age 27 season he had a .894 SV%, and 3.20 GAA in 62 games just wanted to clarify that. Carry on.

You know another player that had 35 points in 70 games while playing bottom 6 minutes? Or another wing that had 44 in in 79 games while playing 16 minutes a night? Hint... Hint... They are our best players. Not saying Nyquist and Tatar are going to be hall of famers, but nothing they've done yet this early in their career has given the indication that they are just 40 point a year guys.

Disagree completely. Him making those great passes will open much more opportunities for him. I don't want him floating at the top of the circle like Ovechkin, Brunner has the capacity to be a very good complete player, and that's what he should focus on. The goals will follow, his line will have more offensive zone pressure, he'll have more odd man rushes etc.

Had to bold that just for the laugh. +/- may not be useless, but the conclusions made from it are. Too many variables for +/- to be meaningful. If +/- were given out when you gave the puck away, made a good breakout pass, took the right man out of the corner, won a puck battle behind the net, blocked a shot, missed the net on a shot, took a penalty, had a solid body check etc. then it would be much more reliable as those are plays that helped prevent or score a goal. But right now Quincey can get a + from Datsyuk dangling 5 people on the other team, even though Quincey was a complete non factor on the play, or Datsyuk gets a - because Quincey decided to pinch in as the last guy back and give up a breakaway, and Datsyuk had no factor in that goal happening.